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magazine issue 9 vertical

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Outsourcing Will Not Save You if You Don’t Keep the Brains In-House
Erik Vynkier, board member and former interim CEO of UK mutual insurer Foresters, delivers a wake-up call for firms relying on outsourcing. He warns that while cost-saving is tempting, firms must retain critical internal expertise to evolve, comply, and remain competitive. This candid interview breaks down how outsourcing can either become a long-term strategic edge or a silent killer of innovation, compliance, and reputational resilience if misunderstood.
Jul 04, 2025
Erik Vynckier
Erik Vynckier, Non-Executive Director; Chair, Investment Committee; Chair, Membership Committee, Foresters Friendly Society
Tags: Vendor and Third Party Risk
The views and opinions expressed in this content are those of the thought leader as an individual and are not attributed to CeFPro or any other organization

Outsourcing might slash your costs, but is it gutting your company’s ability to innovate, adapt, and survive regulatory pressure? Erik Vynkier doesn’t hold back in this candid interview, highlighting the often-overlooked truth: you can outsource the function, but you cannot outsource the responsibility.

As the insurance sector leans harder into third-party delivery models, Vynkier argues that without retaining core strategic, architectural, and compliance skills in-house, firms are gambling with long-term competitiveness - and with the regulator’s patience.

What’s more, he suggests that even meeting regulatory baselines isn’t enough. Consumer Duty and other evolving frameworks require an ongoing, forward-looking capability, not one-time compliance. Vynkier’s message is clear: staying competitive isn’t about stripping down to the cheapest delivery model. It’s about curiosity, continuous benchmarking, and the courage to invest in internal talent even when headcount appears to shrink. Outsourcing isn’t a shortcut to transformation.

Done right, it’s a demanding but rewarding ecosystem strategy. Done wrong, it’s a slow leak that drains agility and trust.

Erik Vynckier Bio

Erik Vynckier is Board member and chair of the Investment Committee of Foresters Friendly Society since 2016, following a career in banking, insurance, asset management and petrochemical industry. Erik restructured the Foresters as Interim CEO in 2019. Erik was Chief Investment Officer (Europe) for private equity group Eli Global, partner, at InsurTech Venture Partners and Chief Investment Officer for European insurance clients at Alliance Bernstein. Before, Erik managed with-profits and annuity funds at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Aberdeen Standard Life) after managing the Group Risk Hub of Standard Life. Erik started in finance at Credit Suisse First Boston and HSBC, in equity program trading, quantitative development and asset-liability management for client balance sheets. Erik was Chair of Research and Thought Leadership Board at the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries from 2018 until 2021. Erik has founded and served as board member of www.hpcfinance.eu and www.bigdatafinance.eu, the European initiatives from 2011 until 2019 on high performance computing and big data analytics in financial services. Erik graduated as Chemical Engineer at Universiteit Gent (Belgium) and completed his MBA at London Business School in 2000. Prior to his MBA, Erik held R&D, production and strategy positions in the petrochemical industry in France, Belgium, Germany, the US and the UK. He has been adviser to the Chemical Engineering Department of University College London on research and education since 2015.

Erik Vynckier
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magazine issue 9 vertical